John Ahern wrote an opinion piece today in the Seattle PI. John was the primary sponsor of the felony DUI law that passed this year. A summary of the article follows:
As the prime sponsor of the Felony DUI law that passed the Legislature this year, I am as disappointed as everyone about the recent drunk driving arrest of Susan West.
...Each time this legislation was introduced, it was sidelined by committee chairs from the majority party and wasn't even allowed a public hearing.
...It requires hours of negotiation and compromise and comes with the realization that your version of the bill may not make it to the floor of either chamber or to the governor.
I have been determined to get a Felony DUI bill on the books, mainly because Washington was one of only three states that didn't have such a law. If I could get it passed even if it wasn't my original version, I could go back in a subsequent session and attempt to make the laws stiffer for drunk drivers.
...The majority said we didn't have the prison space or the money to lock up repeat drunk drivers.
...This last session, it appeared as if the Felony DUI bill was dead many times.
...The bill that passed makes the fifth DUI in 10 years a felony and it won't take effect until July 2007. This law isn't tough enough and I will continue to fight to make the law three strikes and you get serious prison time.
With the passage of this watered-down bill last session, the majority in the House and Senate have given people more chances to drive drunk before they are charged with a felony. I will try again next session to strengthen the drunk driving laws with the hope that we can keep people like Susan West off the roads for a very long time.
The original of this posting can be found at Washington DUI News.
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